The charming rock hyrax, a cuddly-looking fellow whose nearest living relative is the elephant:

This is in the coastal town of Hermanus, a lovely place for whale-watching, in season. We were there at the wrong season, but the hyrax provided a mammal sighting that made us happy. The little fellow seemed to really be enjoying the sun on his seaside perch…

A while later, we met a second one coming the opposite direction on the coastal path:

We yielded the right-of-way. Vicious creatures, these. You don’t want to confront them.

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About Callan

Callan Bentley is an assistant professor of geology at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia. He is particularly interested in structural geology and the evolution of the Appalachian mountain belt. Callan draws cartoons and writes for EARTH magazine. He lives in the Fort Valley of Virginia.

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